[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 459 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 459

     To require a study and report regarding the designations and 
   construction of a new interstate route from Savannah, Georgia to 
                         Knoxville, Tennessee.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 18, 2005

 Mr. Chambliss (for himself and Mr. Isakson) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To require a study and report regarding the designations and 
   construction of a new interstate route from Savannah, Georgia to 
                         Knoxville, Tennessee.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Interstate 3/3rd Infantry Division 
Highway Initiation Act.''.

SEC. 2. INTERSTATE 3/3RD INFANTRY DIVISION HIGHWAY.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) in accordance with the original purposes of the Dwight 
        D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense 
        Highways, a direct interstate highway link between Fort Gordon, 
        Eisenhower Army Regional Medical Center, the Augusta Veterans 
        Administration Hospitals, Fort Stewart, Hunter Army Airfield, 
        and the Port of Savannah would be in the strategic defense 
        interest of the United States;
            (2) eastern Georgia, western North Carolina, and the Great 
        Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee are underserved by north-
        south interstate highways, and would benefit economically and 
        through increased public safety by establishment of an 
        interstate highway extending from Savannah, Georgia to 
        Knoxville, Tennessee, following a route generally defined 
        through Sylvania, Waynesboro, Augusta, Lincolnton, Elberton, 
        Hartwell, Toccoa, and Young Harris, Georgia, and Maryville, 
        Tennessee;
            (3) the United States Army 3rd Infantry Division of Fort 
        Stewart, Georgia, provided the ``Tip of the Spear'' in the War 
        on Terror in Iraq;
            (4) the soldiers of that Division sacrificed their blood 
        and lives so that their fellow Americans may live in peace and 
        freedom;
            (5) the soldiers of that Division conquered Najaf, seized 
        Saddam International Airport, and Saddam Hussein's palaces; and
            (6) those soldiers led the fighting on the day of Baghdad's 
        historic liberation.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) a new interstate highway designated as ``United States 
        Interstate Route 3'' should be constructed on the routes 
        described in subsection (a)(2) between Savannah, Georgia and 
        Knoxville, Tennessee; and
            (2) that interstate highway should be known and designated 
        as the ``3rd Infantry Division Highway'', in honor of the 
        professionalism, heroism, and sacrifice of the men and women of 
        the United States Army 3rd Infantry Division in defending the 
        freedom of the United States.
    (c) Study and Report.--Not later than December 31, 2005, the 
Secretary of Transportation shall study and submit to the appropriate 
committees of Congress a report on the steps and estimated funding 
necessary to designate and construct a new interstate route for the 3rd 
Infantry Division Highway, from Savannah, Georgia and Knoxville, 
Tennessee (formerly the Savannah River Parkway in the State of 
Georgia), as described in subsection (b).
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